Nikki Sixx Admits Drugs Don’t Enhance Creativity

Former Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx has argued against the use of drugs to enhance creativity, insisting that there’s much more to be said for working in a state of sobriety.

Sixx, who overdosed on heroin several times at the height of his own addiction issues in the ‘80s, has been campaigning to raise awareness of what he sees as the U.S. government’s failure to handle the nation’s opioid crisis. President Donald Trump recently said he’d declare a state of emergency over the issue, but hasn’t done so yet.

“When I was coming up, so far as I know, there were no pill forms of heroin,” he told MSNBC. “If there were, I was never introduced to it, thank God. But a lot of people that are dealing with addiction right now, they're dealing with it on a pain pill level, and it's being prescribed to them usually for a good reason — for dealing with pain itself. But then when they're over-prescribed, and insurance companies are lax in following up on who's getting these prescriptions filled and how many prescriptions can be filled at a time. I know CVS recently talked about only releasing one week worth of pain pills at a time so that people can't abuse them and can't also sell them."

You can watch the interview below.

Sixx also noted that the drugs aren't only in high demand, they’re expensive. "When people can’t get these pills, they’re then going to the street," he said. "Then you’re dealing with needles and unregulated drugs, and you have a lot of overdoses there as well with the medications being prescribed.”

Turning to the issue of artists using drugs as a way to improve their output, Sixx said, “I was thinking about 1987 and how I was barely able to get an album done and a tour. And, actually, the tour was canceled, the last part of the tour. And in 2017, I'm able to do a radio show, write books, do photography, be a better husband, a father, and be part of these conversations that are happening. So I really think that sobriety gives you more energy and more creativity.”